MLS Week 21: Your Running Commentary

Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City are two of the league’s top teams, and both are enjoying red-hot runs of form, but only one of them will be able to keep things going when they square off in MLS Week 21’s marquee match-up.

MVP candidate Javier Morales leads an RSL side currently boasting the best record in the league against a Sporting KC side that has started to get rolling in recent weeks. With Graham Zusi staying with the team, Sporting KC will have the firepower to pull the road upset.

Former U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team coach Caleb Porter brings his Portland Timbers to PPL Park, where they will face off against several familiar faces on the Philadelphia Union. Amobi Okugo, Jack McInerney and Sheanon Williams were all in the

Here is a rundown of today’s MLS action:

4pm – MLS Direct Kick – Toronto vs New York Red Bulls

4pm – MLS Direct Kick – Seattle Sounders vs Colorado Rapids

7pm – MLS Direct Kick – Montreal Impact vs Dallas

7:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Columbus Crew vs New England

7:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Philadelphia Union vs Portland Timbers

8:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Chicago Fire vs DC United

10pm – MLS Direct Kick – Real Salt Lake vs Sporting Kansas CIty

10:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – LA Galaxy vs Vancouver Whitecaps

If you will be watching today’s MLS action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Seattle was bad in the first half but they created numerous chances in the second half and were clearly the better side. Weber gifted Colorado that goal when he completely whiffed on the corner. Colorado did nothing all game, I hope they dont always play like that, not great for the fans to watch.

Did you watch the game? They defended with 9 and booted it all game and hoped for their striker to create a miracle. They really didn’t do much at all and their goal was a straight up gift from Weber. Also I doubt it’ll all be better soon, Seattle hasn’t looked good in about two months and the injuries keep getting worse.

I watched the entire game, yes. Just not into rationalizing less than desirable performances by blaming players from a third team for creating some injury, or by degrading the other team unnecessarily, or other such things. The reality is that If the Rapids were as bad as you say today, Seattle should have beaten them. But they didn’t — they just didn’t get it done, and that’s on them. For their part, the Rapids went in, worked hard, and got a valuable point on the road in a notoriously difficult place to play, and in a match with playoff ramifications, to boot. And Seattle didn’t take care of business the way they should have in that setting.

Amen brother. There is a lot of bad refereeing in MLS, but this was completely one sided. RSL got two yellow cards, including one that sent Wingert off, on identical fouls that SKC committed twice with no cautions or even warnings. Then at the end, the ref basically let the game continue until HIS team, SKC, scored a goal. The 5 minutes of stoppage time was already excessive then he let it go almost 8 minutes extra.

Both SKC #20 and Collin deserved no less than 4 yellows each during this game. Constant tackles from behind, studs up challenges, pushes to the chest of RSL players at almost every ball stoppage and even repeatedly pushing the referee himself. All of that got no reaction at all. The yellow that #20 got for a scissor challenge from behind on Javi should have been straight red. Then no less than 3 minutes later, after getting a yellow, he comes in hard from behind again on Morales and doesn’t get anywhere close to the ball. Nothing from the ref. It was as bad as it has ever been in MLS.

SKC did NOT deserve points from this game. The ref lost control early and gave the game to SKC.

That was the second worst officiated game in MLS I’ve ever seen–only behind that Philly-DC game that had the penalties and crazy red cards.

I don’t even know where to begin…

– Losing complete control of the match…
– Completely inconsistent foul calls (ignoring that they favored SKC entirely)…
– Send off an RSL player for–by the game’s standards a no-call…
– No send off a for number of SKC players for multiple yellow card offenses (but I’ll just go with Rosell inexplicably not seeing red for what was 3 or 4 yellow card tackles including a scissor -tackle from behind and a tactical foul sweeping the plant leg near the end)
– No yellow to Ike Opara for coming running in and shoving an RSL player in the chest WHILE HE’S BEING TALKED TO BY THE REFEREE
– Letting SKC score in the 97th minute with 5 minutes of extra time and no stoppages to give reason to extend.

Yeah, WOW is the only thing to be said. One of the marquee games of the year was ruined because it became a wrestling match. SKC intimidated the ref from the beginning. I have not seen much from #20 before, but he is a disgrace to the whole game of soccer. Thuggish behavior throughout, getting in the face of opposing players and literally the definition of dissent did not stop from the opening whistle.

I know that all fans are a little bit biased, but do SKC fans feel about this game? Can they really feel like they deserved 3 points. Do they really like to see the type of thuggish behavior from Collin and #20? I don’t know the name of the CDM, #20, but he never played the ball and had to have committed at least 10 fouls in the game, probably 6 of which were called. It was embarrassing. While points are nice, I would honestly be ashamed of my team is I was a KC fan.